2010-10-24

The contract Wallach signed earlier this month to become a member
of the Dodgers' major league coaching staff after managing their
Triple-A Albuquerque affiliate the past two seasons has a list of clubs
with which he can talk to and a list of clubs with which he can't.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter,
Wallach was allowed to make those lists himself while negotiating the
deal, which the source said was unusually beneficial to Wallach in terms
of both length and financial compensation.

Because there are
so many major league managerial openings this winter -- there were eight
when the offseason began and there still are six -- the Dodgers didn't
want Wallach to interview for all of them, presumably because that would
have held up their effort to fill their coaching staff. So Wallach was
asked to prioritize those eight clubs based on his level of interest
before any of those teams even requested permission to talk to him.

It isn't clear how many teams are on the "can-talk-to'' list and how
many are on the "can't-talk-to'' list. But the source said the Brewers
and Blue Jays are the only teams that requested permission to speak with
Wallach.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue
Jays,
have been named the Eastern League's top team for most outstanding
promotional
effort, community involvement and overall operation for the third
consecutive
year, earning the league's nomination for Minor League Baseball's
prestigious
Larry MacPhail Promotional Trophy.

Danielle
Matteau, the Fisher
Cats Director of Public Affairs, has been awarded the league's
nomination for
the Rawlings Woman Executive of the Year Award for the third straight
season. The
Rawlings Woman Executive of the Year award is given out annually to one
woman
who has made an outstanding contribution to her club, league or to
baseball.

The
MacPhail Trophy and the
Rawlings Award winners will be recognized at the Baseball Winter
Meetings in Orlando,
FL
on Monday, December 6.

"We
are truly honored to
receive the Eastern League's nod for this tremendous award for a third
consecutive
season," said Fisher Cats President Rick Brenner. "With so many
deserving teams in the league vying for this honor, we are humbled to
again be
recognized for the hard work and commitment our staff put forth all
year
long."

During
the 2010 season, the
Fisher Cats welcomed a total of 391,472 fans to regular season and
playoff
games at Merchantsauto.com Stadium, including 14 standing-room-only
crowds.
August saw the highest monthly attendance in the team's history with
110,285
fans enjoying Fisher Cats games.

The Jays need a manager who will be there for the next three to five
seasons to avoid a “win at all costs” mentality at the expense of player
development.

In the hiring process, the Jays also will insist that the new
manager retain Bruce Walton as pitching coach. Walton’s work this season
with the young rotation and his ability to communicate with manager
Cito Gaston in the latter’s final year were key. Keeping Walton would be
an easier request to make of a first-time manager.

With an eye to figuring out the process of hiring a major league manager, the Star turned to a guy who’s done it three times.

Dan Duquette spent more than 20 years
in the majors. He scouted for the Milwaukee Brewers, was director of
player development and general manager with the Montreal Expos, and GM
of his hometown Boston Red Sox.

During that time, Duquette hired
three big-league managers: Felipe Alou in Montreal and Kevin Kennedy and
Jimy Williams in Boston.

“Who’s going to be best able to help
you win games?” Duquette said simply, in assessing the ultimate question
clubs must answer with their decisions.

But in coming to that conclusion,
Duquette, who now runs a tournament facility and sports camp for boys
and girls aged 8 to 18 in Hinsdale, Mass., said the process is lengthy,
multi-layered and designed to explore the long list of things required
of a manager, from strategy to personality to influences.

Opposing pitchers can take some solace knowing that even a sports hernia couldn't slow down major-league home run leader Jose Bautista this season.

The Toronto Blue Jays slugger underwent surgery to repair a sports
hernia in Philadelphia on Thursday, a procedure that "was done without
complication" and will need about a month to heal.

The 30-year-old, who ripped a franchise record 54 homers in 2010, first began experiencing soreness in his lower abdomen in May.

An examination revealed the injury -- a weakening of the muscles or
tendons of the lower abdominal wall -- and team trainers and doctors
decided he could keep playing without inflicting more damage.

As things turned out, damage was inflicted on opposing pitchers, as
Bautista finished the season with 124 RBIs, 109 runs and 100 walks to go
with all the home runs in his first all-star campaign.

He also stole nine bases while providing elite defence in right field and third base.

"If we felt he wouldn't have been able to run full speed, or do the
things he wanted to, or all those types of things, we wouldn't have
allowed him to play," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said in an
interview.

"He had it, but it really did not impact him at all."

Un-fucking-believable.

I probably should give my take on our next skipper. In keeping with the theme this week, I'll sum it up in one word for ya.

2 comments:

Looking forward to the new manager in Toronto. I have no facts or stats to back this up, but I believe he will really help the Jays continue developing and win more games along the way. Now the trades/free agent speculation can begin...

@Mattt,I'm interested to see who the new guy fills out his coaching staff with. We know that Butter and Papi are back. Still looking for a bench coach, a hitting coach, a first base coach and a bullpen coach.